Ingres made portraits of his contemporaries all his life. Whether working in oil on canvas or graphite on paper, he brought painstaking concentration to the task, creating likenesses of stunning verisimilitude. Nathalie Gallois was a cousin of Ingres's second wife Delphine Ramel, whom he married in 1852. With customary ease and the touch of a pencil, Ingres presents his bourgeois relative with patrician finery, detailing the folds and ruffles of her elegant dress. Sparing no adornments, Ingres has highlighted Nathalie's jewelry in gold paint and traced the lacey hair ornament with meticulous precision. The sitter's porcelain skin and comely expression made the drawing a perfect gift for Monsieur Gallois, as detailed in the artist's affectionate inscription.